Sarah Trotman


Sarah Trotman is a businesswoman, director, celebrant and community advocate from Auckland, New Zealand. She is a member of the Waitematā Local Board of Auckland Council.

Personal life

Trotman is one of five children, including four girls. She grew up in Wellington, and attended St Michael's Primary School and St Mary's College. She lives in Auckland and has two children, Tilly and Elliot.

Business career

Trotman began work at College Credit Management. By the age of 25, Trotman became General Manager, responsible for 20 staff. She was also president of the industry association, Associated Credit Bureaux NZ Inc. She was a military police officer with the Territorial Association. Sarah Trotman was managing director of Bizzone; a business support company focused on small and medium businesses. She established Bizzone, which included Bizzone Business Expo, the Excellence in Business Support Awards and published Bizzone business support magazine. In 2011, Bizzone worked with Franchize Consultants to explore expansion to Australia.
She became Director of Business Relations at Auckland University of Technology Business school where she oversaw the AUT Excellence Support Awards and was also chair of AUT's Women on Campus.

Community work

Trotman helped establish Auckland's Lifewise Big Sleepout fundraising event to support people out of homelessness, has mentored young women under the YWCA NZ Future Leaders Programme and is an active business mentor.
Trotman is a be.accessible Fab50 accessibility champion and a supporter of the Auckland Foundation's Women's Fund. She was a trustee of the Blake Trust for many years and currently sits on the Blake Trust Award selection panel.

Awards and recognition

In 2017, Trotman was appointed as an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business and services to the community. Her appointment recognised her work as Chief Executive of Business Mentors New Zealand, where she supervised free business mentoring for over 3,000 small businesses per year. It noted her as a former trustee of the Sir Peter Blake Trust and Leadership New Zealand, It also acknowledged her as a small business support specialist, organising Business Expos, the Excellence in Business Support Awards, and the Bizzone Business Magazine.

Auckland local body election

In the 2019 Auckland local elections, Trotman successfully stood as a candidate for a seat on the Waitemata Local Board of Auckland Council on the C&R – Communities and Residents ticket and was elected.